A banned industrial dye has been detected in three more batches of chili powder imported from China, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday, adding that affected products had been removed from store shelves as of Friday afternoon.
Earlier this week, food products were found to contain chili powder with the carcinogenic Sudan III dye, imported by Bao Hsin Enterprises Co Ltd (保欣企業) in New Taipei City from Sanhe Drug Co Ltd (三禾藥業) in China’s Henan Province, leading to random inspections that have so far uncovered three more batches containing the dye, the FDA said.
The batches include one inspected by the New Taipei City Department of Health, with an expiration date of Oct. 4, 2026, and two inspected by the Taoyuan Department of Public Health, with expiration dates of Oct. 29, 2026, and Jan. 7, 2027, it said, adding that they were supplied to 10 companies.
Photo courtesy of the Taichung Office of Food and Drug Safety
As of 5pm on Friday, 3,528.3kg of the tainted chili powder and food products containing it had been recalled or removed from store shelves, the agency said.
The Taichung Office of Food and Drug Safety yesterday said that its expanded inspections have found that food company Jinanji (金安記) purchased chili powder from another Bao Hsin batch, with an expiration date of Oct. 12.
Resampling and retesting on Friday confirmed that the chili power contained Sudan III, at concentration level of 20 parts per billion, it said.
Jinanji purchased 325kg of chili powder and used 73kg of it on its “Garlic Armatic Pork Dry” (香辣豬肉乾) product, with expiration dates between Aug. 10 and Feb. 6 next year, and “Spicy Flavor Pork Shreds” (香辣豬肉絲) products, with expiration dates between Aug. 9 and Feb. 5 next year, it said.
The two products weigh a total of 6,739kg and were sold to 15 areas in Taiwan, it said.
Jinanji has informed its 42 downstream clients to recall the food products containing the tainted chili powder, and the unused chili powder has been returned to its supplier in New Taipei City, the office said.
Regarding the differences between the FDA and the Taichung office’s recall numbers, FDA Deputy Director-General Lin Chin-fu (林金富) said that inspections in the consumer market are conducted by local governments, which report back to the FDA, so there is often a one or two-day gap before the agency can include local data.
The FDA has since Dec. 11 last year conducted batch-by-batch border inspections on chili powder imported from China, which are to continue until June 10. It on Wednesday announced that 21 importers or manufacturers that have used the tainted chili power would be suspended from importing chili pepper powder from China for three months.
Additional reporting by CNA
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